The Brewers just announced via Twitter that Takashi Saito will start today’s game against the Royals, bumping Wily Peralta to relief. Saito has spent most of the past three days at his spring residence, trying to get information about family members in an area of northeast Japan particularly devastated by the earthquake and tsunami there.

If he feels comfortable about the status of family members in Japan, Brewers reliever Takashi Saito will start Sunday’s game against the Royals, manager Ron Roenicke said.

Saito played catch and did his running at Maryvale Baseball Park on Saturday morning, then returned to his Spring Training home to continue working the phones. He’s had a very difficult time getting information about his parents, brothers and other extended family members in Sendai, a city ravaged by Friday’s earthquake and the tsunami that followed. Saito is focused on getting his family out of Sendai and to safety.

His wife and three daughters avoided the worst of the disaster because they are south of Tokyo in Yokohama.

“He wants to get his parents and his brothers in a safe area, and once he does that, mentally, he’s going to feel better about coming back to the baseball part of it,” Roenicke said. “If everything goes right today, that he hears everybody is OK, he’s planning to pitch an inning [on Sunday].

“If there are still things he’s uncomfortable with and he’s not sure what’s going on, he probably won’t pitch. He’ll come in and work out again.”

Roenicke and Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Saito he’s free to leave the team and travel to Japan if necessary. If he opts to pitch Sunday, the Brewers told him to arrive at noon local time, pitch at 1 p.m. and then head back home to work the phone.

“He doesn’t need to be at the ballpark right now,” Roenicke said. “He needs to take care of his family, make sure he’s OK upstairs. He’s getting 2-3 hours a sleep a night, and that’s not good. We want to take care of him first, and his family. We’ll make sure he stays in shape enough, but he needs to take care of his family.”

If Saito does not pitch Sunday, right-hander Wily Peralta will start against the Royals.

The Brewers happily traded back-end depth for front-line talent in their starting rotation, but it led to a “what if” that stumped manager Ron Roenicke on Saturday.

With left-hander Manny Parra out indefinitely with a bad back and right-hander Mark Rogers moving along slowly after some early-spring shoulder stiffness, what if one of a member of the five man starting rotation goes down before Opening Day? Who would step in as the so-called sixth starter?

“Do you want me to look at the list?” Roenicke asked, reaching for a roster.

“[Tim] Dillard is there,” Roenicke said, referring to the right-hander and longtime Brewers farmhand who a year ago radically altered his style to a sidearm sling. “[Wily] Peralta is a possibility, even though he’s young. [Amaury] Rivas is a possibility.”

Peralta is a top Brewers pitching prospect, but he is also 21 years old and has made all of eight starts above A-ball. Rivas was the team’s Minor League pitcher of the year in 2009, but would have to make a big leap after spending last season at Double-A Huntsville.

Reliever Kameron Loe could be an emergency option, considering he made 47 starts for the Rangers from 2004-07. But Roenicke indicated he leave Loe in the bullpen.

“When he was with Texas, they tried to tinker with what to do with him, starting or relieving. He never found his niche, and I think he’s found it” in relief, Roenicke said. “I wouldn’t want to mess with that.”

The Brewers’ relatively thin starting ranks are a change from last season, when they entered Spring Training with four established pitchers vying for two rotation spots behind Yovani Gallardo, Randy Wolf and Doug Davis.

In the end, that depth did not translate to success, and the Brewers ranked next-to-last in the National League in starters’ ERA. General manager Doug Melvin spent the winter focused on adding front-line pitching, trading for Shaun Marcum of the Blue Jays and Zack Greinke of the Royals to go with Gallardo, Wolf and Chris Narveson.

“I’ll take our five starters, and we’ll work out the others,” Roenicke said.

The Brewers are in the first season of a four-year player development with the Timber Rattlers, a Midwest League team based just outside Appleton, Wis. at Fox Cities Stadium, about 100 miles north of Miller Park. Before the Brewers came to town, Wisconsin had been a Seattle Mariners affiliate since 1993.

The new partnership will be on display Friday night at Miller Park as the Timber Rattlers and Peoria Chiefs take part in the third so-called “Border Battle.” The concept was first introduced in 2003, when the Brewers-affiliated Beloit Snappers, featuring Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks and Manny Parra, faced the Timber Rattlers in front of more than 15,000 fans. The event was staged again in 2004 with the same two teams before going on hiatus.

Now it’s back, and by Thursday afternoon the Brewers had already sold 15,000 tickets at $10 apiece. Seats are still available.

Milwaukee wanted to make a good first impression in Appleton, so they sent eight of the team’s top 30 prospects, as rated by Baseball America. Among the hitters to watch are 2008 first-round Draft pick Brett Lawrie and second-rounder Cutter Dykstra. The pitchers include Wily Peralta and Cody Adams, both of whom are scheduled to work in the Border Battle, 2008 supplemental first-round pick Evan Fredrickson and big right-hander Cody Scarpetta, the lone Rattler on Milwaukee’s 40-man roster. Scarpetta matched his professional best by striking out 10 batters in a win on Wednesday over Peoria.

All of those prospects, many with less than a year of professional experience, could make for a development year in Appleton. But it also gives Brewers fans from Central Wisconsin an opportunity to see the next wave of talent headed to the big leagues.

“There was only one more we made there with winning in mind,” Ash said. “And that was signing a veteran back-of-the-bullpen guy.”

That would be Jim Henderson, a 27-year-old who has played as high as Triple-A and was looking for work after the Cubs released him late in Spring Training. He is more than three years older than any other player on the team, and Brewers officials figured it was important to have someone with experience in the closer’s role.

The current installment of prospects were scheduled to arrive at Miller Park early in the day Friday for lunch, a tour of the ballpark and some early work on the field. Ash will be in attendance, as will director of player development Reid Nichols.

The idea is to reinstate the Border Battle as an annual event, Ash said. Summer-like temperatures are expected on Friday, and Brewers officials were planning to play under an open roof.

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